Duluth RBA
Duluth RBA
Duluth RBA
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-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *April 2 1998 *MNDU9804.02 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore
Date: April 2, 1998
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologist’s Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert
Transcriber: Christine Leiser powel003@tc.umn.edu
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)
This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, April 2, 1998, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologist's Union. With the sudden arrival of temperatures in the 60 degree range in Duluth last Saturday, a lot of birds of interest turned up last weekend. Among the more interesting finds on March 28th were the three quite unexpected RUDDY DUCKS seen by Terry Wiens, Jim Lind and others at the 40th Avenue/Pier area. Terry also saw a late SNOW BUNTING there and there was a late NORTHERN SHRIKE near his yard on Strand Road the same day. Also on the 28th, a very early COMMON LOON was seen by Don Kenol at his yard on Martin Road. And some equally early BLUE-WINGED TEAL were on the St. Louis River near Morgan Park. An immature GOLDEN EAGLE and a carefully identified Harlan's-type RED-TAILED HAWK were both seen along the river near the Hwy 39 Oliver bridge. Other migrants seen by various observers in Duluth last weekend included good numbers of AMERICAN ROBINS, COMMON GRACKLES, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. Only isolated sightings of these species had been reported previously. Plus the first reports of TUNDRA SWANS seen by Jeff Newman on the river near the Oliver Bridge, SNOW GOOSE, including a flock of 120 flying over Mike Hendrickson's house near Morgan Park, RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, MERLIN, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, SONG SPARROWS, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD. Also of special note on March 28th was Frank Nicoletti's and Dave Carmen's raptor counted at Enger Tower which included no fewer than 438 BALD EAGLES, 66 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 2 GOLDEN EAGLES, 2 PEREGRINE FALCONS, 2 NORTHERN HARRIER, 1 COOPER'S HAWK and 1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK for a total of 514 raptors for the day. Overall for the month of March, Frank counted a total of 1,597 raptors, which is nearly one thousand more than the March of 1997 total. These included 1,467 BALD EAGLES, 99 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 9 GOLDEN EAGLES, 6 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 3 each of NORTHERN HARRIER, AMERICAN KESTREL and MERLIN, 2 PEREGRINE FALCONS, and 1 each of TURKEY VULTURE, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and COOPER'S HAWK. Warren Nelson of Aitkin also reported a large influx of migrants in Aitkin county March 28th. Most notable among them were a quite unexpected and very early GREEN HERON, over 1,000 SNOW GOOSE, and no fewer than 150 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (which may well be the highest count of this species ever in the northeastern quarter of Minnesota), good numbers of TUNDRA SWANS and some EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. Since last weekend, the birding has quieted down considerably although the first AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, TURKEY VULTURE and FOX SPARROW were reported in Duluth. Tim Dawson heard a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL in his yard on Arnold Road April first. At least three NORTHERN CARDINALS have been seen in the general vicinity of UMD, and large numbers of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS continue to be reported in several Duluth neighborhoods, with actual counts at Enger Tower of 625 on March 29th and no fewer than 1,035 on March 30th. The next scheduled update of this tape will be on Thursday, April 9th and as always if you have birds to report you may leave a message after the tone. BEEP
